(PBR release)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – As the energetic California crowd cheered, PBR (Professional Bull Riders) young gun Cody Jesus (Window Rock, Arizona) won the opening round of the three-day Sacramento Invitational, inside Golden 1 Center.
Jesus, who took the 2018 season by storm when he rocketed in the standings late in the season to qualify for his first PBR World Finals, conquered Lifting Lives (D&H Cattle/ Craig Moore) on Friday night. The 88-point ride earned him 100 world points and the top seat on the leaderboard as Round 1 came to a close.
Ryan Dirteater (Hulbert, Oklahoma) collected 60 world points for his second-place finish in Sacramento’s opening round. His 87.5-point ride aboard Udder Lover (Wallgren & Hale Bull Co./Randy Wood) brought the crowd to its feet early on in the night.
Veteran rider Sean Willingham (Summerville, Georgia) collected a third-place finish when he made the 8 seconds on Newsom (D&H Cattle/ 444Bucking Bulls). The 87.25-point ride earned him 50 world points.
Following, the previous week’s victory in Glendale, Arizona, Brazilian cowboy Joao Ricardo Vieira (Itatinga, Sao Paulo, Brazil) did not disappoint Golden State fans as he turned in an impressive 86.75-point ride atop Crazy Days (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Heald Pro Bulls). His fourth-place finish earned him 40 world points.
Making his second PBR: Unleash The Beast premier series appearance, Daniel Tinsman (Farmland, Indiana) rounded out the Top 5. Tinsman rode Dynamite Cap (Wallgren & Hale Bull Co. / Randy Wood) for 86.5 points. For his efforts, he collected 30 world points.
During Round 1, in tandem with the Sacramento Invitational, fans witnessed the first of ten stops on Shorty Gorham’s American Freestyle Bullfighting tour. Formed to revive American-style bullfighting, AFB is an extreme sport pitting one freestyle bullfighter against a Spanish or Mexican fighting bull. Like bull riding, in AFB, there are individual scores for both cowboys and bulls. The winner of the Sacramento AFB competition was Cade “Gibbs” Gibson (Pilot Point, Texas) for his crowd-rousing tricks and 88-point score.
In a moving gesture of support, the executives of Golden 1 Center took to the dirt during Friday night’s event to present PBR CEO Sean Gleason with a check from the Sacramento King’s Foundation for $5,000 to go to the family of rider Mason Lowe (Exeter, Missouri). Lowe passed away on Jan. 15 as a result of injuries sustained during a PBR event at the Denver Coliseum.
In the week following Lowe’s untimely passing the National Western Stock Show, a 501c-3 non-profit entity, in conjunction with PBR, has been accepting donations to be directly received by the Lowe family. Donations and information can be found by clicking here.
The cowboys of the PBR will return to the Golden 1 Center on Saturday, January 26 for Round 2 of the Sacramento Invitational and then again on Sunday, January 27 for Round 3 and the championship round.
Action from Round 1 will be viewable on-demand Saturday, January 25 starting at 8 a.m. ET on RidePass.com or via the RidePass mobile app.
PBR Unleash The Beast – Sacramento Invitational
Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Cody Jesus, 88-0-0-0-88.00-100 Points.
2. Ryan Dirteater, 87.5-0-0-0-87.50-60 Points.
3. Sean Willingham, 87.25-0-0-0-87.25-50 Points.
4. João Ricardo Vieira, 86.75-0-0-0-86.75-40 Points.
5. Daniel Tinsman, 86.5-0-0-0-86.50-30 Points.
6. Lonnie West, 86-0-0-0-86.00-15 Points.
7. Paulo Ferreira Lima, 85.5-0-0-0-85.50-5 Points.
8. Luciano De Castro, 85-0-0-0-85.00
9. Alisson De Souza, 83.25-0-0-0-83.25
Jess Lockwood, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Jose Vitor Leme, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Chase Outlaw, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Claudio Montanha Jr., 0-0-0-0-0.00
Rubens Barbosa, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Divino, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Cannon Cravens, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Cody Nance, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Brennon Eldred, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Derek Kolbaba, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Dakota Buttar, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Koal Livingston, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Colten Jesse, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Stetson Lawrence, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Emilio Resende, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Ramon de Lima, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Marco Antônio Eguchi, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Tanner Byrne, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Silvano Alves, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Eduardo Aparecido, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Juan Carlos Contreras, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Cody Campbell, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Alex Marcilio, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Nathan Burtenshaw, 0-0-0-0-0.00
J.B. Mauney, 0-0-0-0-0.00
